


Full Moon

by Quine



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Full Moon, Getting Together, James is a Dork, Kissing, Miscommunication, Oneshot, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:55:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23807257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quine/pseuds/Quine
Summary: Lily suggests it spontaneously the first time, and it's more of a joke than anything else when she asks Potter to go on a Date with her. But him turning her down is not what she expected.----Alternatively, James being really bad at coming up with excuses while he is under pressure.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 13
Kudos: 88





	Full Moon

**Author's Note:**

> This is a headcanon that while I typed it out became a Oneshot. 
> 
> (I typed it on my phone so be merciful)

Lily suggests it spontaneously the first time and it's more of a joke than anything else when she mentions it. She's been watching Potter who broods silently (and alone for once) over his charms essay in a corner of the common room, while she halfheartedly listens to Alice who tells the story of her last date with Frank. And it's Alices' story that sparks the idea to be the one to get under Potters skin for once and to take _him_ by surprise.

And it's really just to tease Potter and not because he has been oddly quiet these last few weeks and really not because of the way his eyes squint underneath his glasses as he scribbles another few words onto the parchment - because, she isn't interested in Potter, not at all - but when he ruffles his hair, too focused to even notice the motion, Lily asks him if he wants to meet up on the Hogwarts grounds tonight, the spot on the lake that everyone knows about.

And she laughs when Potter startles so much that he falls out of his chair and she is still grinning when he stares at her like deer in headlights. 

But then he asks her if she's sure and his sincerity steals her breath away.  
Lily stares at him and it only takes a moment to think about it. After all Potter isn't obnoxious like he was last year, and he helped that crying first year who was stuck in the vanishing step of the stairs when he didn't notice her watching; besides, she doesn't remember him asking her to go out with him once these last three months...  
So when she simply shrugs - trying very hard to appear nonchalant while ignoring the blush that creeps up her neck - his grin is almost blinding. 

And Lily can't help but feel a little flutter inside her stomach when she looks at him, not really listening to Alice who squeals and babbles about how romantic a date under the full moon is, but then Potter's expression falters and that catches her attention. 

And the next words coming out of his mouth make no sense at all because, "Nah, sorry. Gotta walk my dog tonight!" is really not the answer she expected. 

Lily pretends to be alright but her voice is a little colder when she replies, "Didn't know you owned a dog Potter..." And she is not hurt at all when she turns her back and walks up the steps to the girls dormitory. 

She doesn't see Potter's eyes following her, still in shock over his own words

 _  
__(He panicked, okay?!),_

  
but after a 15 minutes - during which she definitely did _not_ cry, nor angrily thought about a hundred ways to curse the guy

 _  
__(How dare Potter to treat her like that!),_

  
she grows a bit suspicious. 

Despite Potter not asking her to go out with him for some time now, she didn't think he'd ever not jump at a chance to go on a date with her. And it's not arrogance making her think that, because she knows he's been watching her, still. She simply grows curious once she's calmed a bit and could think about the situation and as to why the sudden change of mood occurred.

From that day on she keeps a(n even) closer eye on him. 

It doesn't take her long to figure out more. Lily is not stupid and Remus is a fellow prefect after all. Besides, she's overheard Potter's little group call Remus, Moony often enough while she'd pretended not to listen - _no she didn't stare at Potter while he laughed a ridiculous laugh._   
Though it doesn't help that Potter parades around with a black dog on the school-grounds, the day after he declined her offer.  
It only adds to the mystery.

But then three weeks pass and Lily is pretty sure that Remus is a werewolf and that Potter and his friends are somehow involved in that. 

So when the next full moon comes, she asks him out again just to confirm her suspicion and this time it's his buddy Black who spits out half his drink over the house table, while she casually speaks to Potter over her morning toast. 

His excuse this time is almost as ridiculous as the first one, because honestly: if Potter told her that he'd gotten detention, she might've been inclined to believe him, if she hadn't already suspected something was going on.  
But when he utters something about having "to polish his broomstick tonight" - Sirius makes a choking noise

  
 _(he really shouldn't have taken another sip of juice and what is the meaning of that glance he shares with Remus who barely holds back a smirk, despite the guilty expression in his eyes as he watches her exchange with Potter)_  
  
\- Lily simply flicks her hair and says, "Another time maybe."

She pretends to ignore Potter after that, but takes satisfaction in the blush that spreads over his entire face when the implication of what he said hits him and he buries his face in his hands while Pettigrew pats his back sympathetically.

It's hard to avoid the guy during the next few weeks and to be honest she doesn't even try. Lily enjoys the teasing that has snuck it's way into their interactions. She likes to make Potter blush and rendering him speechless by using the same tactics he'd _(unsuccessfully)_ used on her in the previous years. And that was the idea, wasn't it? To put James into a place where he is the one dumbfounded for once. 

But soon the teasing turns into friendly banter and Lily finds herself looking forward to their small conversations on the corridors.

She even asks Sirius about a certain spell to prank James and if that is the beginning of another strange friendship who is there to call her out on it?

One day they sit next to each other in the common room and Lily can't even remember when "Potter" turned into "James". 

That being said, as soon as James opens his mouth and tries to ask her out, she comes up with an excuse - and her's are way better than James' - and extracts herself from the situation. 

There are a few close calls, and she almost wants to give in, but there is still a secret she needs to figure out.

_(Where did James' dog disappear to? And what is Potter up to during the full moon, since Remus is obviously not approachable in that state?)_

But when she catches herself laughing at one of James stupid jokes more often than she'd like to admit and when she sees the way he is now, and how he treats others, her resolve crumbles bit by bit.   
She stumbles over a book about Animagi when she's looking for James in his dorm and the next time Sirius barks a laugh the way he does, she is sure that she knows how James got a pet so quickly. 

And then one day she can't take it any longer. They are sitting in the library to study, just the two of them. And this time when Lily asks James to go on a date with her, it's genuine.

Lily bites her lip trying to hide her smile as she watches James recover from the shock once again and she holds her breath, waiting for an answer.   
And then James mutters something about how he promised Sirius to count his socks that night and her dismayed expression seems to tell him everything, because he stumbles out of his chair and Lily watches him leave the library, her heart aching painfully while she questions if she was wrong all along.   
  
She is still there half a hour later, trying not show how hurt she is, because who can she blame if not herself after everything that happened, when Remus slides in the chair opposite to her, a serious expression on his face. 

He asks her if she knows.   
  
Her hurt turns into confusion and then into a laugh, when she realizes that of all things, she was the one to forget the reason that started it all. 

  
Tonight's a full moon.

  
After Lily confirms Remus' suspicion, the conversation that follows is long and earnest and in the end Lily even manages to wrestle a smile out of the other boy. She doesn't think that she has convinced Remus completely that her opinion of him hasn't changed - that she doesn't think that he's a Monster, but she'll take what she can get for now. 

  
Afterwards she goes to look for James. It takes a while, since Remus doesn't know where James disappeared to, but he usually knows where Sirius is and Sirius always knows where James is.

_(Remus shrugs when Lily asks him about it, and he tells her that it has always been that way.)_

Eventually Sirius points her towards the Quidditch pitch and indeed, she finds James on the bleachers watching the Hufflepuffs train. 

  
He looks up but doesn't say anything, when she claims the place next to him. They watch the blurry figures in the air for some time and it's a comfortable silence, till Lily asks him again if he wants to go out on a date. When James mutters something incoherent and then tries to tell her about his promise to Sirius regarding his socks, Lily thinks she might be a bit in love.

When Lily clarifies that she doesn't mind waiting for the next Hogsmeade weekend, James kisses her.

**Author's Note:**

> If someone wants to expand that idea, is inspired by it, or wants to write their interpretation of the story, feel free to use it how you like, but pls mention it to me because in that case I'd like to read it ;)


End file.
